Metro Board Chair Diane DuBois, Board Member Don Knabe, Metro DCEO Lindy Lee join other officials to celebrate the completion of the soundwall project.
Photos: Juan Ocampo/Metro
Metro and Caltrans officials held a ribbon-cutting celebration for the completion of the I-605 Freeway Soundwall Project in the City of Whittier earlier today.
Metro funded the entire $14 million cost of the I-605 Freeway Soundwall Project. This project consists of approximately three miles of soundwalls along the north and southbound 605 in the City of Whittier and unincorporated L.A. County areas, from Slauson Avenue to Oregon Street.
This long-awaited soundwall will provide noise mitigation to nearby residents along the I-605 freeway.
Categories: Transportation News
I think all So Cal HOV lanes should be tolled like the ExpressLanes to help pay for freeway projects like these.
Pay what you use by the distance traveled and on-peak/off-peak pricing system is working with success on the 110 ExpressLanes project, it should be expanded to all Southern California freeways.
In the last ExpressLanes meeting last October, it was found that the project already made $20 million in the first six months of the ExpressLanes pilot period, far outpacing the expected $16-18 million a year estimate. To put it another way, this $14 million sound wall essentially was paid for in less than six months worth of revenues from the ExpressLanes pilot project with $6 million in change to boot!
Imagine how much revenue can be generated for much needed fixed throughout LA, including Metro projects, bus services, freeways, potholes, surface streets if the ExpressLanes were expanded to other HOV lanes like the 405 and the 101? Maybe we won’t even need a fare hike at all either.
Caveat is of course that Supervisor Molina will keep trying to add a bogus monthly maintenance fee for the transponders that no one wants and could undermine the entire ExpressLanes project altogether. If it’s going to cost the city $2 million dollars to gain $20 million in six months from the ExpressLanes, then so be it; it’s going to be a cost to do business, not something that should be passed along to LA taxpayers.
Does this mean, now that THIS project is done, that the MTA can START PUTTING MONEY INTO BUSES AND BUS LINES AGAIN?
Ribbon cutting and photo op? These officials seem really proud of their $14mil brick wall…
How is Metro ensuring that the highway system is generating a 30% farebox recovery ratio (toll?) for freeway expenditures? Maybe on March 29, Metro needs to hold a public hearing for proposed tolls for freeways as well!
$14 million for 3 miles of ugly cinderblocks? I’m hoping something else was involved in this project…